Russia to make self-regulatory organisations defunct

Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development has decided to abolish the three self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in the country, recent media reports suggest. The SROs represent licensed bookmakers’ interests. The ministry is of the view that these organisations are duplicating functions of the Federal Tax Service (FTS).

The First SRO of Russian Bookmakers and the Bookmakers SRO were started some years back to help bookmakers prepare the ground for Russia’s licensed online sports betting regime. The SROs each run centralised online payment hubs, known as TSUPIS, which is obligatory for all betting payments and allows the government to monitor all online activity.

According to a proposed new bill, bookmakers can receive online bets from players who have been identified in the centre of online bets control. The new legislation also allows centre to simplify the identification of gambler. The bill also establishes standards for licensing control of bookmakers.

There are industry stakeholders who see the move with suspicion. According to Nikolai Oganezov, chairman of a bookmaking subcommittee of Russia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the abolishment of SROs may bring chaos to the legal bookmakers market.

Russia currently has 16 licensed online betting operators. Recently Betting Business Russia has published a ranking of online traffic for the most visited betting websites in Russia.